README.md

banned_items.csv

What is this?: This file contains a list of all of the items banned in 481 high schools across the US.

Source(s) & Methods: Using the National Center for Education Statistic’s (NCES) search function for public schools, I collected a list of over 8,000 public high schools in the US. I limited the resulting schools to just those that had a web address listed in NCES. Accessing the homepage web content from each site, I searched for words like “handbook”, “dress code”, and “code of conduct”, filtering my list of schools to just those that contain one of the above phrases. Then, I manually visited the resulting (2,000+) websites in an attempt to find the dress code. Dress codes were disqualified from analysis if they: had a uniform policy, were not from the 2018-2019 school year, or represented magnet or boarding schools (according to the NCES). Once the list of dress codes was compiled, I and two data assistants (Kait Thomas and Anna Houston) manually recorded every rule listed in each dress code using a Google Form. Only items and body parts that were explicitly listed were included in this analysis. Some minor subjectivity came into play when combining similar phrases from different handbooks (ex. “midriff shirt” = “crop top”, “shirt with open sides” = “muscle shirt” etc.).

Temporal Applicability: All data was collected for high schools' 2018-2019 school year.

Observations (Rows): Each row represents data on a single rule.

Variables (Columns):

Header

Description

Data Type

schoolName

The NCES listed name of the school.

text

state

The two-letter state abbreviation for each school.

text

type

General category for grouping rules. They are as follows: • accessories• body• clothing: Specific clothing attributes that don't fit in other categories • footwear• grooming: Includes rules about hair styles, colors, and general grooming prohibitions • headwear: Includes all sorts of items worn on the head (e.g., hats, caps, bandanas, head scarves etc.) • length: Items restricted specifically due to their length (e.g. short shorts, short skirts etc.) • pants• promotion: Items that promote items in this category are prohibited (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, drugs etc.) • rationale: Words/phrases used to describe why the dress code exists or why a specific item is prohibited • shirt• shorts• skirt.dress• undergarment

text

item

The specific item that is banned within each category (e.g., tank top in the shirt type, sagging resting below waist in the pants type etc.)

text

prohibited

Some schools prohibit items for only female students or only male students. This column can contain 4 values: • female: Banned only for female students • male: Banned only for male students • none: No specific gender banned from wearing item • NA: Not collected for this type

text

body_by_school.json & body_by_school.R

body_by_school.json: The data as described below

body_by_school.R: The script used to process banned_items.csv to create body_by_school.json. To run this script, you'll also need the school_metadata.csv file (also located in this repository). The data was then used for the graphics in the section of The Messages Dress Codes Are Sending labelled "Body Parts Banned by Each School". This script was written in the R programming language. All details describing the R session environment during processing are available here.

What is this?: The .json file contains the body parts prohibited from visibility in each school.

Source(s): Since this is processed data from banned_items.csv, refer to the Source section of banned_items.csv.

body_percentages.csv & body_percentages.R

body_percentages.csv: The data as described below

body_percentages.R: The script used to process banned_items.csv to create body_percentages.csv. The data was then used for the graphics in the section of The Messages Dress Codes Are Sending labelled "The Most Commonly Banned Visible Body Parts". This script was written in the R programming language. All details describing the R session environment during processing are available here.

What is this?: The .csv file contains the percentage of schools that prohibit particular body parts from being visible.

Source(s): Since this is processed data from banned_items.csv, refer to the Source section of banned_items.csv.

Temporal Applicability: All data was collected for high schools' 2018-2019 school year.

Observations (Rows): Each row represents data on a single body part.

Variables (Columns):

Header

Description

Data Type

item

The body part banned.

text

n

Count of schools that explicitly prohibit this body part.

number

per

Percentage of schools in dataset that explicitly prohibit this body part.

number

clothes_percentages.csv & clothes_percentages.R

clothes_percentages.csv: The data as described below

clothes_percentages.R: The script used to process banned_items.csv to create clothes_percentages.csv. To run this script, you'll also need the clothesDetails.csv file (also located in this repository). The data was then used for the graphics in the section of The Messages Dress Codes Are Sending labelled "Percentage of High Schools Which Prohibit Clothing Items". This script was written in the R programming language. All details describing the R session environment during processing are available here.

What is this?: The .csv file contains the body parts prohibited from visibility in each school.

Source(s): Since this is processed data from banned_items.csv, refer to the Source section of banned_items.csv.

Temporal Applicability: All data was collected for high schools' 2018-2019 school year.

Observations (Rows): Each row represents data on a single clothing item.

Variables (Columns):

Header

Description

Data Type

slug

The cleaned and formatted item name for presentation.

text

market

The group of students that this clothing item/style is typically marketed to. • f: female students • m: male students • n: any students

text

reveal_body

Whether or not the clothing item is likely banned because it reveals or accentuates banned parts of the body. • y: yes • n: no

text

n

Count of schools that prohibit this particular clothing item.

number

per

The percentage of schools (out of the total number surveyed) that prohibit this item.

number

group

Each item was split into one of 7 groups based on what percentage of schools prohibited the item. Items in group 60 are prohibited between 60 and 70% of schools, items in group 50 are prohibited in between 50 and 60% of schools etc.

number

clothesDetails.csv

What is this?: This file contains manually-entered details about the most commonly prohibited clothing items and styles.

Source(s): These data were collected by searching for items in major clothing retailers to find if items are primary marketed to male, female, or any student.

Temporal Applicability: All data was collected for high schools' 2018-2019 school year.

Observations (Rows): Each row represents data on a item rule.

Variables (Columns):

Header

Description

Data Type

schoolName

The NCES-formatted school name.

text

state

The two-letter state abbreviation for each school.

text

limits

Item for which the length restriction applies (shorts, skirts, etc.)

text

length

The length restriction for each specific object (e.g., shorter than fingertips, shorter than x inches from the knee)

text

inches

If the length variable contains an x (e.g., shorter than x inches from the knee) the number in this column represents the x. For some schools, this is not a number, but an item used for reference (e.g., width of a dollar bill)

text

sanctions.csv

What is this?: This file contains specific data about any sanctions for dress code violations listed directly in the Dress Code section of the Student Handbook or Code of Conduct.

Source(s): These data were collected in the same way as banned_items.csv and are presented without further processing.

Temporal Applicability: All data was collected for high schools' 2018-2019 school year.

Observations (Rows): Each row represents data on a single sanction.

Variables (Columns):

Header

Description

Data Type

schoolName

The NCES-formatted school name.

text

state

The two-letter state abbreviation for each school.

text

sanction

The sanction/punishment for breaking the school dress code.

text

offense

Some schools listed specific sanctions for the first offense (1st), second offense (2nd) etc. If no specific offense number was listed, it is entered in this column as Any.

text

Notes: Some schools did not appear to list sanctions within the dress code policy, or referenced sanctions specified elsewhere. The sanctions listed here are only those that were listed within the text of the dress code policy so they may not indicate all possible sanctions for each school.

school_metadata.csv

What is this?: This file contains some relevant information from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) about the schools whose dress code policies were analyzed here.

Source(s): National Center for Education Statistics public school search function.

Temporal Applicability: All data was collected for high schools' 2018-2019 school year.

Observations (Rows): Each row represents data on a single item rule.

Variables (Columns):

Header

Description

Data Type

schoolName

The NCES-formatted school name.

text

state

The two-letter state abbreviation for each school.

text

limits

The width restriction for each strap (e.g., to the edge of the shoulder, less than x inches)

text

number

If the limits variable contains an x (e.g., less than x inches) the number in this column represents the x. For some schools, this is not a number, but an item used for reference (e.g., width of a dollar bill)

text

words_percentages.csv & words_percentages.R

words_percentages.csv: The data as described below

words_percentages.R: The script used to process banned_items.csv to create words_percentages.csv. The data was then used for the graphics in the section of The Messages Dress Codes Are Sending labelled "Most Common Words in the Rationale for Dress Codes". This script was written in the R programming language. All details describing the R session environment during processing are available here.

What is this?: The .csv file contains the words manually tagged from the dress code that were used to describe the rationale that the dress code exists or that a specific item is prohibited.

Source(s): Since this is processed data from banned_items.csv, refer to the Source section of banned_items.csv.